In just over six months, we’ll be kicking off the largest World Cup ever. Three co-hosts and 16 cities welcoming 48 teams in what will be soccer’s marquee tournament.
But it’s also a time of reflection, especially when it comes to the U.S. men’s national team. This year was always going to be pivotal for manager Mauricio Pochettino as he now turns his attention to the World Cup.
How far will USMNT go at 2026 FIFA World Cup™? 👀
Landon Donovan, Brad Guzan and Cobi Jones predicted how far the USMNT will go at the 2026 FIFA World Cup™.
Now that 2026 is almost upon us, here’s a recap of how the last 12 months shook out for the U.S. men’s national team:
Diego Luna and Other Newbies Take Their Chance
(Photo by Eston Parker/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
It was fair to wonder how Pochettino would approach the team’s 2025 January training camp, that annual early-year get-together populated almost exclusively by MLS players between seasons. With European-based stars like Christian Pulisic unavailable because of club commitments, basic arithmetic guaranteed that some of the invitees wouldn’t even sniff the 2026 World Cup roster 18 months down the road.
But Pochettino and his staff have a proven track record of developing young players and relish the chance to work with the domestic league’s best for an extended period — a luxury national team coaches rarely enjoy.
Sure enough, what turned out to be perhaps the final “Camp Cupcake” ever did what it has for a quarter-century: unearth several players who used the opportunity to establish themselves as mainstays. Striker Patrick Agyemang scored in the wins over Venezuela and Costa Rica. Defender Max Arfsten, also previously uncapped, went on to lead the USMNT in assists this year. Midfielder Jack McGlynn provided a preview of his left-footed stunner against Türkiye in a summer friendly. Attacking midfielder Diego Luna’s “big balls” immediately endeared him to Pochettino; he led the squad with 17 appearances in 2025.
Nations League Diaster Forces Change
(Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Agyemang, Arfsten and Luna stuck around when the program’s more experienced veterans – including Pulisic, 2022 World Cup captain Tyler Adams, and midfielder Weston McKennie – returned for the Concacaf Nations League finals in March.
Expectations were high after the U.S. won the first three editions of the tournament. Nothing less than a fourth straight title was expected, but the U.S. came out flat against Panama in the semis and lost 1-0 on a late goal.
The hosts then lost the third-place match to Canada. Luna and Agyemang combined for the only U.S. goal. With 20 minutes remaining and the Americans chasing an equalizer, Pochettino made an eyebrow-raising triple substitution — removing Pulisic, Adams and McKennie.
The message wasn’t lost on anyone.
“That was a wake-up call,” Pochettino said later of the Nations League debacle. “We needed to start a different process and a different approach and everything…all that happened helped a little bit to realize that the most important thing is the national team, is the federation, and this is more important than any single name.”
Pulisic Drama Precedes Stirring Gold Cup Run
(Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
In theory, the Nations League failure considerably raised the stakes for the summer’s Concacaf Gold Cup — the final competitive games the Americans would play before the all-important 2026 FIFA World Cup.
In reality, Pochettino’s plans fell through before the regional championship had even kicked off. Pulisic, following two stellar but grueling seasons with AC Milan, surprised the Argentine by asking to sit the Gold Cup out. Midfielder Yunus Musah, a teenage starter in Qatar in 2022, did the same. McKennie, forward Tim Weah and attacking midfielder Gio Reyna were obligated to remain with their clubs for FIFA’s U.S.-hosted Club World Cup, while standout fullback duo Sergino Dest and Antonee “Jedi” Robinson and first choice strikers Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi all missed out through injury.
Pochettino also left out the experienced likes of Josh Sargent and Tanner Tessmann, then sat longtime No. 1 goalkeeper Matt Turner in favor of the uncapped Matt Freese when the competition began — but not before the shorthanded Americans lost their final pre-Gold Cup tuneup 4-0 to Switzerland.
United States vs. Mexico Concacaf Gold Cup Highlights | FOX Soccer
In the locker room afterward, the coach apologized to his players for the defeat. The shorthanded Americans rallied around their coach. Adams, along with defender duo Chris Richards and Tim Ream, led the way as Arfsten, Luna and McGlynn played key roles alongside two new newcomers: midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and left-back Alex Freeman. The U.S. reached the final against an almost full-strength Mexico but lost, narrowly, in front of 71,000 mostly El Tri fans in Houston.
Still, Pochettino couldn’t have been prouder of what was suddenly a much deeper team, one that now appeared to be on the proper track.
Knives Out for Pochettino?
(Photo by Ben Jackson/USSF/Getty Images)
Whatever good vibes the Gold Cup performance brought took 90 minutes to evaporate. With Pulisic (but notably not McKennie) back in the fold in early September, South Korea and its superstar forward Son Heung-min were barely troubled by the U.S. in New Jersey. Pochettino insisted the 2-0 loss in which only Balogun played well was closer than it looked — which didn’t pass the eye or smell test even if the stats backed him up.
“Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT is a mess,” blared a New York Times headline. Less than a year out from the World Cup, the story itself was even more damning, calling a squad long considered a Golden Generation of elite professionals “a mishmash of misfiring stars and fringe players who probably don’t belong at the international level.”
Pochettino responded to the criticism before the next friendly, against Japan three days later in Columbus, Ohio.
“I am positive because the players trust in the process, because they know that we have a plan. Everyone knows here, inside, that we have a plan, and we stick with the plan,” Pochettino said. “We have no worries about nothing.”
The next day, his team produced its finest showing under the former Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea coach to that point, playing the Samurai Blue off the field in a 2-0 win. Pulisic, in particular, was outstanding.
Winning Streak – and the World Cup Draw – Close Out 2025
Group D: United States, Paraguay, Australia and UEFA Playoff C | 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw
A refocused McKennie returned in October and helped the U.S. come from behind to earn a 1-1 tie with Ecuador and then a 2-1 win over Australia — which we now know the USMNT will face at the World Cup in Seattle on June 19 in their second Group D contest.
Pochettino’s team closed out 2025 with two more victories, against another upcoming first-round World Cup foe (Paraguay) and then Uruguay, a record-smashing 5-0 shellacking of the two-time World Cup winner that came with Pulisic, Adams, Richards, Robinson and Weah all missing because of injury.
On the field, it was an amazing way to end Pochettino’s first full year in charge. The Dec. 6 World Cup draw in Washington provided the off-pitch capper: a wholly manageable group stage slate that, along with the Aussies and Paraguayans, will also include one of Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia or Türkiye.
Following a roller coaster last 12 months, Pochettino isn’t putting any limits on what the U.S. can accomplish in 2026, saying that the goal is nothing less than lifting the World Cup as champions.
For the more than 70 players the coach has capped since being hired in September 2024 to steady an obviously listing ship, convincing the boss that they deserve one of just 26 golden World Cup tickets will be their singular obsession when the calendar flips to 2026.
“To this point, none of us are guaranteed a spot at this World Cup,” Ream said post-draw. “I think that’s the biggest message, is that we have to continue to earn that opportunity.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
